The field of the invention is fishing jigs, particularly fishing jigs having a large eye and a funnel-shaped lead-in area.
Fishing jigs commonly have a hook with an eye through which the fishing line is threaded and tied. The eye is small, the inside diameter of the eye typically being about one hundred twenty-four percent or less of the diameter of the wire that forms the hook. Because modern types of fishing line are flexible and braided, many fishermen have difficulty threading the line into the eye, especially in low light or when there is motion. In particular, fishermen who are far-sighted, as many middle-aged and older people are, often cannot see the eye well enough to thread the line through it unless they are wearing glasses. If the eye is painted, the problem is compounded because the eye is further narrowed by the paint.
The largest known eye in the prior art has an inside diameter of one hundred ninety-four percent of the diameter of the wire that forms its hook (which is a straight hook, not a jig hook). No lead-in funnels are used on any jigs known in the prior art.